Siegfried gets 7 years in domestic violence case

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A Nevada City man was sentenced to seven years after being found guilty of depriving a custodial parent of a child, stalking, spousal abuse, making criminal threats, disobeying a court order and disobeying a domestic restraining order and resisting arrest in two separate incidents involving the mother of his child.

Jacob Siegfried was arrested in September 2011 after he refused to return the 3-year-old boy to the custodial mother after taking him to Burning Man, and then threatening to take him to San Diego or Arizona. In November of that same year, Siegfried allegedly grabbed his ex-girlfriend by the hair and tried to pull her into his vehicle during a child custody exchange.

He was sentenced Monday in Nevada County Superior Court on those charges — as well as a separate case in which he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of making a criminal threat after he allegedly threatened his ex-girlfriend as the verdict was being read.

Siegfried still faces criminal charges in connection with the November 2011 discovery of a trailer containing 50 pounds of marijuana.

“I don’t want to minimize the impact of his behavior,” Munkelt said, before arguing that the push for a prison term was “totally inappropriate.”

Munkelt argued that Siegfried had learned his lesson and would “conform” his conduct.

Both Munkelt and Deputy Public Defender Tamara Zuromskis, who handled the criminal threat case, argued the incident never happened.

“The people have formed this picture … of a dangerous individual,” Munkelt sad. “To send him to prison for that would be wrong … There’s no reason for this exaggerated fear.”

Munkelt argued that a longer, more intensive probation term would be better for Siegfried and the community than prison and subsequent parole.

“He deserves the opportunity to prove to you he can conform,” Munkelt said.

Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Ow read a statement from the victim in which she said she suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome as a result of the incidents.

While listening to the statement, which detailed how harmful his actions had been to his son, Siegfried briefly broke down, sobbing as he bent his head.

Ow conceded that Siegfried has no significant criminal record but told Anderson that was the only thing weighing in his favor.

If there were a picture of Siegfried as a dangerous individual, it is because “he drew the lines and colored in the squares,” Ow said.

“He was, is and will continue to be a threat to (the victim),” she added.

Anderson said he was deviating from the pre-sentence report in sentencing Siegfried to an aggregate term of seven years; he had pleaded no contest to the criminal threat case in return for time served. He has more than three and a half years credit for time served and good behavior.

A trial date for the marijuana case was set for Oct. 8 with a conference scheduled for Sept. 20.